Conveyer for sugar-cane mills



Nov. 6, 1928. 1,690,877

W. A. RAMSAY CONVEYER FOR SUGAR CANE MILLS Filed DSG. 2. 1927 2Sheets-Sheet l W. A. RAMSAY CONVEYER FOR SUGAR CANE MILLS Filed Deo. ,2,1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lPatented Nov. 6, 1928. l

. UNITED s'1^.i?T'-Es PATENT ortica.

'WILLIAM A. 'RAMSAY,OF HONOLULU, TERRITORY VI'IlBl-WAI-I.

CONVEYER FORISUGAR-@CANE MILLS. n

Application filed December 2, 1927.. gSerial No. 237,299.

This .invention relates to conveyors, .and specifically .to ya mechanismlutilizing a train of conveying rollers especially 4adapted .for use inthe sugar cane industry .in the trans- 5 .portation of .bagasse from onemill `to thev by one ofthe crushermills, or by other powered means,lwhich will operate .with fa; maxilnum of efficiency and ataminimumcfex- ,pense in performing the desired work. Y I

Other objects of the invention will be made 'apparent in the following,specilications, when read in connection with the dra-wings formingapart thereof.

In said drawings:

Fig. '1 is a longitudinal section taken `through vthe conyeyer, showing`the rolls of the adjacent crushing mills.` ,v l Fig. 2 isa'deta-ilppartlyin lsection,'show ing an* end of a conveyer roller, andthe bracket supporting `the trunnion thereof.rv

Fig. 3 isa transverse section taken on the line. 3--3 of FigQl, and, v Y

Fig. 4 is a section ltaken transversely through two of the conveyingrollers.

Now referring specificallytonthe draw!y ings,in which likeieference`numerals indi- Hcate'likeparts throughout the several views, 1 and2arerolls of a crushing mill from lwhich bagasseis tobe delivered'to therolls and 4 of the adjacent crushing. mill. Suitably supportedl'toextend-between said mills is a conveyer trough formedby upright metallicside walls 5, anda'front endfwall', as illustrated inI Fig. 1.

kThe 'objea of lthe invention is the pievi: ysion Vof .a positively.acting .conveyen `driven 'by aspr'ocket chain 20 operatively .connectedrThe front wall 6 .ofthe trough islequip-ped with a feedI Yinlet.provided withlknown .devices facilitating the delivery .of thebagassefrom theifrontmill tothe trough,vcovere`dlby the Ramsay Patent No.1,191,826,:issued July 55 y1.8, 1916, and .forms nov part of the.present invention.

Secured .to each side vofand atthe bottom of reach of .the walls .5,.are ra plurality 4of roller vbearings 8, mounted on .trunnions .9

.extending .through .said wall, v,as ,clearly .shown in Fig. 3,saidbearings Sbeingsopositioned as to properly support tubular conveyingrollers 10, sothat each end yof each of said rollers rests `upon two .ofthe bearings, as clearly illustrated in Figs. land 4 ofthe drawings. Y vv 'l The rollers l1() are in the form ofcylinders, theends being closedbya plug .11, into which extend coupling members 12, secured .to Va lhubvportion .'13, surrounding the .roller .shaft 14,'.and secured to saidshaft by a pin 15. .A supporting ybracket .16 is. rivetedlor vbolted ttothe metallic side .5, and lsaidbracketis .provided with .a bearingportion .17 adapted to receive the shaft 14. .Thestructure justdescribed-may be applied only tothe first. roller at the left, asillustrated in Fig. '1, or to any other roller.- inthetrain, iffoundemore desirable, the other Vrollers 10 .being journalled in ysimpleanti-friction bearings in the sfide walls'5, '5. AOr the bracket 16 maybeextended :longitudinally along each side of the walls 5 toprovidebearings for each of the end shafts of .cach roller 1.0.. N

.On thelouterendof the shaft 14 secured to the roller 10 adjacenty theCrusher rolls 1 vand 2,.is non-rotativelysecured afhub 18 of a sprocketwheel 19, adapted to'be engaged to the Crusher k.roller 2. Instead ofthe sprocket and. chain connections described', the hub 18 may bereplaced` by a pulley, anda drive belt operatively extended from thecrusher roll2fto said pulley.` .In `somefcases .95 4

it may be desirable to drive the #first roller lOby means of anindependently mounted electric motor operatively connected =to the shaft14 thereof.

Itis to be noted thatthe. conveyer rollers 10 loo Cil are not in contacteach to each, but that both ends of each roller rest upon two of thebearings 8. A partition member 2O is secured at each end by passingthrough slots cut in the end of the trunnion pins 9 each partitionextending upwardly between adjacent rollers l0, and provided with a cutaway portion at each end to clear the bearings 8 as illustrated in Fig.3. The partitions each terminate in a T-shaped platform 22, the lowersurface of4 tion of the several instrumentalities described is suchthat, with the friction rollers 25 in position, as shown in Fig. 4, eachfriction roller will contact both of the adjacent conveyer rollers 10,and,`at the same time, rest lightly upon the flanges 23 and 24, aplatform 22 covering each of bars 25. Y-

The rear end of the trough formed by the walls 5, 5, is.v locatedclosely adjacent the receiving crusher rolls 3 and 4, the lower portionof the said walls beine shaped to co-operatewith an inclined plat Aorin26, located be low and adjacent the last of the rollers 10, to deliverthe bagasse to said rolls 3 and 4.

The operation of the conveyer will now be apparent. With the crusherroll 2 rotating in the direction of the arrow, Fig. l, a similarrotation will of course be imparted to the front roller l0 carried'bythe shaft 14. Since said roller is contactingand rotating the frictionroller 25 however, the rotation of the lat ter will be in an oppositedirection, as illustrated Aby the arrow, Fig. 4. rl`he friction roller25 also contacts the second roller l0, and manifestly causes said secondroller 10 to rotate in the same direction as the first, all ltherollersof the train operating to carry the bagasse to the receivingrolls 3 and 4.

As the bagasse passes over one roller l() it Vlightly strikes theplatform 22 and thence passes to the next roller, the platform not onlylimiting upward movement of its associated bar 25, but' also preventingbagasseV from entering between and becoming entangled with said rollers.The friction roller 25V cannot becomel jammed so as to lock the rollers10 against rotation, since, if any projection on the rst roller shouldtend to push said friction roller downwardly, such move- Y ment wouldbelimited by the flanges 23 and 24:, and the bar 25 would immediately beraised by the ascending surface of the second roller.

The entire structure Vof the rollers is sufliciently light to besupported by the metal side walls 5, and yet strong enough to easilycarry any loads of bagasse to which it may be subjected.

lVhile I have described my conveyer as especially adapted to transportbagasse, it isl obvious that it would Operate with equal efficiency inthe transportation of other commodities.

In the sugar mill industry it is often necessary to reverse the crushingrolls, and it will be noted that, in the structure herein described, areversal of the rolls l and 2 will not reversely actuate the rollers 10.This is true because, while the front roller 10 would be rotatedreversely, such action would lift the friction roller 25 out of contactwith the second roller 10, and the train of rollers would not operate. Y

Modifications of the structureherein described may be suggested Vtothose skilled in the art, but my invention includes all embodimentsfalling fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: j Y

1. A `conveyer. comprising a plurality of `conveyer rollers arranged inparallelism in a train, a friction roller located between and in contactwith each of adjacent pairs of conveyer rollers, a platformvcoveringeach of said friction rollers, and means for driving any conveyer rollerof the train. i

2. A conveyerl comprising a plurality of conveyer rollers arranged inparallelism in a train, a frictionroller resting upon and contacting thesurfaces of each adjacent pair of conveyer rollers, and means forlimiting the vertical movement of said friction rollers.

3. A conveyer comprising a plurality of conveyer rollers arranged inparallelism in a train, a friction roller located between and in Contactwith each of all'adjacent pairsof conveyer rollers, said frictionrollers being adapted for movement in any direction, and

means for driving any conveyer roller of the train.

4. A conveyer comprising a plurality of conveyer rollers arranged inparallelism in a train, a partition extending upwardly between andseparating each pair of adjacent rollers, anda friction rollersupport-cd on the upper edge of each partition and positioned forcontact with the surface lof each conveyer roller adjacent saidpartition, andmeans for driving any conveyer roller of the train,substantially as described. Y

`5. A conveyer comprising al plurality of conveyer rollers arranged inparallelism in a train, a partition extending upwardly between andseparating each pair of adjacent rollers, a Afriction roller supportedon theY upper edge of each partition and positioned j for contactwiththe surface of each conveyer roller adjacent said partition, means fordriv ing any conveyer roller of the train, and a iso platform secured tosaid partition above said of said partitions being provided with a slotroller. immediately below said platform, a friction 6. A conveyercomprising a plurality of roller loosely mounted in said slot, and havfconveyer rollers, mounted on anti-friction ing operative contact witheach ofthe con- 5 bearings and arranged in parallelism n a veyer rollersadjacent said partition, and 15 train, a partition extending upwardlybemeans for driving any conveyer roller of the tween each adjacent pairof conveyer rollers, train, substantially as described. y a platformcarried by the upper partition and In testimony whereof I aiix mysignature. located in a plane immedlately below the 10 plane of the topof said conveyer rollers, each WILLIAM A. RAMSAY. e, y

